“Do you want me to come with you?” I asked mostly for my own benefit. I wasn’t sure how I felt about being alone, even for a few minutes.

“I won’t be gone long,” he said, then disappeared into the trees.

As if his parting had sent a signal to the sky, dusk quickly faded to darkness. I inched closer to the fire, regretting I’d let him out of my sight.

I’d never liked darkness much. Andrew preferred it pitch-black when he slept, and nights in his bed left me tired. Truthfully, I wasn’t comfortable sleeping next to him, so the dark protected me from seeing him. But the darkness itself was as much of a problem, so there was no way to find peace in his house.

I wondered how he would treat me when I returned to Haven Valley. Would he scorn me? Divorce me? Maybe that would be a good thing. I would rather have a baby with someone my age whom I loved, like Alice had.

Assuming I survived the night.

I tried to meditate on things that made me feel peaceful. The Scriptures, the promises for the holy and faithful. But I no longer met the criteria for those promises. So where was I now? I finally pulled my hood up over my head, grateful for the many required layers I donned each morning to hide my figure. They lent me warmth now.

Out here, I could dance around in my long slip with the red and yellow flowers I’d painted on it. Actually, the undergarment I’d put on today had blue flowers as well. I could hardly imagine wearing a red dress. Well, I could, but even the thought of it made me nervous.

What was taking Jamie so long? Maybe it had only been a couple of minutes and I had lost all sense of time.

As if on cue, I heard him in the thicket, approaching from my left, and I released a small sigh of relief. “Finally. What took you so long?”

He didn’t respond. The brushing of leaves drew closer as a hot breeze picked up and swirled around me.

“Jamie?”

I froze where I sat, straining my ears for a response. The leaves were now rustling all around me, and I stood as panic edged into my mind. I desperately hoped it was only the wind kicking up.

“Jamie!” I screamed.

A thin, mournful cry, like the death moan of a ghost, rose from my right. I spun, heart in my throat.

But now it came from my left, a longer cry, piercing and terrifying. I wanted to cry out, but my throat had frozen shut.

The sound was now behind me and I twirled around, but it was still behind me, shrieking like a wounded animal. Or was it coming from me?